New Mutants 98

Oy vay. In the past few months, this book has gotten completely out of control. Yep, it’s Deadpool’s first appearance, in New Mutants 98.

Flashing back to early 1991: By the time New Mutants‘ numbering passed let’s say issue 95, it was common knowledge that the book was ending with issue 100, to be relaunched that summer as X-Force.

All of the issues from 86 up were hot because of Rob Liefeld, but really, what was considered the key issue of the run was 87, Cable’s first full appearance…it was apparent that Cable was going to be a major player in the Marvel Universe (especially the mutant books), so issue 87 quickly hit the $10 – $25 range. And yep, it’s still categorized as a key Copper Age comic.

So, the attention was really on 87, and no one was really looking at New Mutants 98, beyond it just being a part of a hot run; I mean hey, there were new characters being introduced left and right in the title, and issue 98 alone introduced Deadpool, Gideon and Domino. Cable always seemed to be the character to watch.

New Mutants 98 could be easily snagged for a buck or two for close to twenty years…it’s even possible it could’ve been found in 50 cent bins. But in 2009, I guess in the wake of the first solo Wolverine movie and a Deadpool movie announced — it’s easily going for $30 – $50 in high grade on eBay. It’s THE hot back issue of the moment.

On a personal level, this is probably gonna be the most painful back issue for me to re-buy, as I’m now in the process of replacing some of the Copper Age comics I’d sold off in the early ’90s. (Probably had a few copies of this book at one point.) But currently, refuse to pay the high ticket price; will either settle for a lower grade, or hopefully the insanity will die down, and prices will normalize…cuz there’s probably hundreds of thousands of copies of this book out there!

More info / resources:

If you’re really after this issue, head over to your local comic shop or small convention, see how you can do on pricing…there’s always eBay as linked above, but honestly, I think the bidding on there is driving prices out of control. People just get into a mania.

Simply looking for a trade paperback? Check out the Copper Age Comics aStore, in the Marvel – X-Force and New Mutants section!